City of White Gold: San Francisco in the Gilded Age

Post-Gold Rush San Francisco is dreary and stagnant, but banker William Chapman Ralston has a big vision for it. When silver is discovered in 1859, he stops at nothing to transform the backwater boomtown into one of the great cities of the world. Tragically the immense task proves more than he can handle, and others must pursue his dream when he falters.

The Gold Rush of 1849 is often the only period of 19th century San Francisco that we know. And yet there is another era that is far less documented—an era of even more frenzied pursuit of wealth, of larger-than-life titans battling for dominance, of a lasting impact on the Far West and on the United States as a whole. This is the story of San Francisco’s Gilded Age—beginning with the discovery of the silver-rich Comstock Lode—and how it propelled an outback seaport into a world-class metropolis, a CITY OF WHITE GOLD.

Sponsored Project Donation

Amount *$

echo $docs_text ?> The documentary on this page is a fiscally sponsored project of the International Documentary Association (IDA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are payable to the IDA and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Apply for Sponsorship

Learn more about how you can apply to IDA's fiscal sponsorship program.

A work-in-progress screening of filmmaker Judith Helfand's personal film, 'Love & Stuff' - Seven months after helping her terminally ill mother die in home-hospice, becomes a “new old” single mother at 50. Overnight, she’s pushed to deal with her “stuff”: 63 boxes of her parents’ heirlooms overwhelming her office-turned-future-baby’s room, the weight her mother had begged her to lose, and the reality of being a half-century older than her daughter.